Sunset
by JamieTyler
Summary: Joe and Adam have an interesting conversation on the banks of Lake Tahoe. Short and sweet, nothing heavy or hard, just an interesting look at a bad day and sunsets.


Sunset

Adam was annoyed. Not angry, jus annoyed. He had been sent to fetch his youngest brother, yet again, but this time it was not from town or a friend's home. It was from his mother's grave, perhaps that was why he wasn't angry. Joe was certainly not misbehaving there.

No, Adam was not angry, just annoyed. There was truly no reason to be angry, after all Joe had not disobeyed anyone, except for not returning in time for supper. But that could easily be from losing track of time. After all, the boy only went to his mother's grave when he needed to be alone to think. And the boy had been fit to be tied when he had come home from school.

It was clear as day on his face that he had, had a bad day. But he had resisted any attempt by his father and brothers to be comforted. Instead, insisting that it wasn't important and asking permission to go to his mother's grave after his chores. Ben had granted it, on the condition that he be back in time for supper. And Joe had rode off in agreement.

Now it was suppertime, and Joe was still at his mother's grave. And Adam had been sent to fetch him, and he was annoyed.

With a sigh, Adam dismounted next to Joe's horse and scanned the horizon for his wayward brother. He quickly spotted the fifteen-year-old sitting on the bank of Lake Tahoe, his mother's grave to his back.

"Joseph!" Adam called sharply as he approached him. Startled, the boy jumped up and spun around to face his brother. It took Joe a moment to recognize Adam, but as soon as he did, he relaxed and smiled slightly.

"Hi Adam," he said, "I stayed too late didn't I?"

Adam stopped in front of him and nodded, "Uh huh. And now Pa is fit to be tied, Hoss is starving to death, and Hop Sing is going back to China. Care to explain what caused all that?"

Though Adam's words had been sharp, his tone was soft and light making Joe shuffle a little, clearly trying not to laugh as he looked down at the dirt. "I'm waiting Joe," Adam pressed, tone still light.

Joe looked up at his brother a little sheepishly, and with a shrug offered, "The sunset."

"The sunset?" Adam repeated in a 'uh huh' voice, "You're going to have to explain that one Joe."

Joe sighed and looked over his shoulder at Lake Tahoe. The setting sun casted beautiful shades of purples, pinks, golds, and blues across its shores while it retreated from the clearest blue that Joe had ever seen. On the very edges of the sky he could see the first stars coming out and knew that the sky was going to be clear and bright tonight. The moon was peeking through off to the corner of his vision, a crescent hanging still. Somewhere birds called to each other, warning of the impending darkness and other creatures scurried to and fro with their evening chores. In the midsts of all the activity though, two birds had found time to dance above the water with each other, flying high and free in an elegance unmatched by any man.

It was beauty beyond words, and peace beyond measure.

Joe, reluctantly, pulled away from the scene and turned his attention back to Adam. When he met his bother's eyes now, all humor and sheepishness was gone and there was an old man reflected in his eyes. "It was a bad day Adam," he said softly. "A very bad day. And I came here to talk to Mama, and try to make sense of it. And I couldn't, not at all. I was still angry when I started home, but then I noticed that the sun was setting, and I stopped to watch it. Just a little bit. It's funny, aint it Adam? That you could be having a bad day and be so angry, but something as simple as the sun setting makes you feel you better? Almost makes it a good day?"

Adam didn't know quit what to say, but he sensed that Joe wasn't looking for an answer and that he still had more to say, so he remained silent.

"I mean, maybe it's because sunsets are constant. They always happen," Joe went on. "They never judge or don't happen. You can always depend on them. Or maybe it's like Mama use to say, "a sunset is God's permission to rest. It's God showing us that everything has an ending, even troubles." Or maybe, maybe it's because it's something beautiful in a bad day. Maybe, it's a reminder that there are beautiful things even in ugliness."

The sun had set farther into the earth and now casted the boy in front of him in a halo of golden light, and for a moment Adam swore he could not recognize the boy in front of him. He swore that it was someone far older then fifteen standing in front of him. But the moment passed and when it did, Adam found his voice. "Or maybe Joe, it's the mystery of not knowing why a sunset makes you feel better that makes it beautiful."

Joe thought about Adam's words for a long moment, standing so still that Adam almost doubted he wasn't real, before he spoke again with a smile. "Or maybe it's the brother who comes to get you for supper that makes it all better."

Adam chuckled softly and wrapped his brother in a quick, but loving hug. "Come on buddy, let's get back to the house before Hoss decides he's starved enough and eats all the food."

Joe laughed as he and his brother moved to their horses, "And hop Sing gets to close to China to make us some more!"

The brother's shared a laugh as they rode off towards home, by the light of the sunset.


End file.
